


This Caving Feeling

by TheKittenOverlord



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Cave-In, Cute, Fluff and Angst, Head Injury, No Smut, Pregnant Yuzuriha mentioned, TKSevents, The Kingdom of Shipping Christmas in July 2020, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25192987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKittenOverlord/pseuds/TheKittenOverlord
Summary: While on their mining expedition, Senku, Chrome, Magma, and Ukyo got seperated and trapped during a cave-in and needs to find a way to get out before frostbite kicks in.
Relationships: Chrome/Ishigami Senkuu, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 60
Collections: 2020 TKS Christmas in July – Gift Exchange





	This Caving Feeling

**Author's Note:**

> I got a lovely friend as my giftee for TKS's Christmas in July event! I love this prompt so I hope I did it justice.

Winter usually is the time to stay indoors, nestled next to a warm fire while the weather outside plummets. However, after Ishigami Senku, the new world's first scientist, winter's started to require back breaking labour and exhausting chores to help the Kingdom of Science grow. While winter has it's drawbacks, such as no farming, Senku makes sure he uses all the time available to him - no matter the weather or season. 

"Alright!" Senku stood up on a stump to get everyone's attention, "We need to go on a mining expedition to collect some materials, so I've made a short list of whose going."

Everyone went quiet, staring at the green-haired man, waiting for him to continue.

"Chrome, of course you know what we're looking for without me explaining, so you're sticking with me."

Chrome's eyes shimmered as he pumped his fist into the air with a "hell yeah!"

"Next is Magma. Your job is the same from our expedition a few seasons ago."

The blonde grunted, not particularly excited to have to go. "Why can't Tsukasa or Taiju do it?" He whined before Senku could continue.

Senku pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Because Tsukasa's still healing from our last mission. Taiju's currently busy."

It wasn't said, but Senku knew when his best friend was stressed out. Him and Yuzuriha had been acting weird around the village lately and Senku pinpointed the probable cause: pregnancy. After Taiju confessed his love to Yuzuriha and they were officially dating, Senku have been seeing less and less of them during the night. He couldn't bring his best friend to stress him out even more. Taiju's a powerhouse, but he's emotionally weak as a kitten.

"That being said, let's continue to our last person," Senku cut Magma off before he could protest any more, "Ukyo's also coming. His sharp hearing could help us find flowing water, which is essential to finding the minerals we need."

After Senku finished discussing the plan, he hopped down from the stump and the rest of the village went back to doing that they were doing before the meeting. Magma still groaned, knowing he'd like to be doing literally anything else, but the decision was final. Senku _is_ the village chief after all. Yo saw how annoyed Magma was so he took that opportunity to tick him off even more by calling him a "savage" and him having a "caveman mentality," which only got his ass handed to him before they had to break it up.

Everything seemed to be going as planned the next morning. All the team members woke up on time and grabbed their gear before they set off up towards the mountains. According to Senku's calculation, they should reach the cave a little after lunch time, so the best course of action is to just stop and eat once they reach the cave entrance. The air was chilly, but not outright cold; though, Ryuusui predicted the weather will drop around noon, so they'll likely need to camp out for two days so they don't risk hyperthermia or frostbite.

Chrome was leading the group - a little too excited at this time in the morning - but Senku enjoyed his enthusiasm. He, too, was excited, though he was also a little too sleep deprived to notice. Ukyo walked behind Chrome, just enjoying the scenery. The sunrise from the cliff side they had to climb was beautiful, but he knew they didn't have time to sightsee. Magma looked to be sleep walking more than anything. He definitely didn't look awake. Meanwhile, Senku was in the very back, hyperventilating and slowly dying.

"Are you okay back there, Senku?" Chrome turned around with a concerned expression, "We can take a break if you need--"

"I'm fine," he struggled to breathe out, "we don't have time for breaks unless you want to eat lunch in the freezing cold."

Even if they have a fire going, the wind would still make it difficult to stay warm, so they needed to get to the shelter of the cave entrance so they can shield themselves from the icy wind. Ryuusui mentioned that the higher up they go on the mountain, the more likely it will be for them to be trapped in a snow storm. The cave they were headed to was near the top. Senku examined it beforehand to make sure it was safe and it looked pretty stable with no large drops like a lot of caves have.

Magma grunted at the scientist slowing them down and lifted him up over his shoulders against his will and many protests.

"Put me down!" Senku demanded, "I can walk myself!"

"You're slowing the whole team down by making them worry," Magma retorted, "we'll get there faster this way. You're not that heavy, string-bean!"

After many mumbles and curses, Senku decided it wasn't a battle he felt like fighting, so he situated himself between Magma's neck and backpack and decided to just keep watch.

"Hey Ukyo," Senku called out from a top his perch, "hear any running water yet?"

Ukyo slowed down a bit and started listening. It was hard to hear from the wind and snow was especially hard to bounce sound off of, but he could hear a faint stream of water about 5 yards away.

"Yeah," Ukyo nodded, "that means we're almost there."

Chrome jumped and cheered, running to the front of the group again, waving for everyone to hurry up, though it didn't make any one of them go any faster.

"Quiet down, Chrome!" Senku warned, "Do you _want_ to cause an avalanche?"

Chrome comically covered his mouth with his hands and was about to vocalize his answer but stopped himself and settled for a head shake instead. He was still as hyper as ever, but much quieter now. The science apprentice may not be big on brains, but he sure makes up for that in endurance. He reminded Senku of Taiju in a way, except much, **much** smarter and tougher. Their personalities and hyperactivity were were almost matched, though.

They finally reached the cave entrance only 10 minutes later than predicted, which wasn't too bad. The mouth of the cave is wide with many icicles lining overhead, but they seemed solid enough. Even though Senku doubted they would fall, he signaled for everyone to put on their hardhats that he made beforehand. Everyone complied, making sure everyones hat was steady and secure.

Chrome started getting out lunch and the others soon followed. Everyone had sandwiches, something the village loves now since Fransicos rediscovered bread. With her around and the farming team, the village will never have to worry about famine again.

"There's tons of icicles," Chrome chewed, keeping his voice down, "that must mean water's been dripping."

"Yeah," Senku stared up at them, "there's probably more down deeper. I guess I'll have to show you two what we're looking for."

Senku started explaining what the rocks look like, their color, shape, and texture so they all can keep an eye out for it.

"The mineral is called 'calcite' and is quite common in caves. I know this cave specifically has bigger stones of them so they won't be hard to carry back."

"So we just find a bunch of these rocks and then we can go back?" Magma squinted at the crude drawing Senku made while explaining.

"Yes," Senku nodded, "once we find them, they'll be in clusters, so we can haul them back."

"Alright, what are we waiting for then?" Manga put the wrapper of his sandwich back in his bag and got to his feet, eagerly.

Senku chuckled and followed along with the others. They each turned their flashlight on their helmet and made their way carefully through the cave depths. The cave is big, with a small river of ice running through it with plenty more stalagmites the deeper they go, getting bigger and bigger as they trudged along.

Ukyo stopped dead in his tracks once they made it almost to the middle of the cave.

"Ukyo," Senku stopped, "what's wrong?"

The look on his face told Senku everything. "Everyone, take cover!" Senku warned, grabbing Chrome and pulling him to the ground while Magma did the same with Ukyo as they felt a harsh rumbling beneath their feet and the walls of the cave started cracking with each shake. They all were holding their breaths until they heard a loud **crack**. Rocks started falling around them, making Senku grab Chrome by the hood and dragging him back further into the cave so they don't get hit. 

By the time they turn back around, the damage was already done. It was a complete cave in - straight down the middle. Senku carefully walked over to analyze the thickness of the rocks and ice, which he concluded were each a foot thick or more. 

"Magma, Ukyo!" Senku called out from the other side, "Are you two alright?"

It took a second to respond, Ukyo coughing from inhaling some dust, "M-Magma's injured!" Ukyo went over to him and pushed a pretty large rock off of his back, "His head is bleeding and I think his leg is broken!"

"Shit," Senku cursed under his breath, "okay, Ukyo, there's no way all three of us can dig through the rocks and ice. I need you to hurry back and grab Taiju, Kohaku, Hyoga, and Tsukasa, if he's healed enough. Understood?"

"Y-yes!" Ukyo got to his feet, "I'll be back as soon as I can!"

He took off his own scarf and wrapped it tightly around Magma's head to stop the bleeding and ran off towards the exit, calling out to all three of them, "Just hang in there!"

Everything was dead silent for a while - nothing but the dripping of the stalagmites and the storm outside. The twisting in Senku's gut weighing him down with each pace.

"Senku..?" Chrome broke the silence, "Everything will be okay.. Magma will be okay."

Senku sighed and sat down beside him.

"I'm not over there, so I can't assess how bad his head is," Senku confided, "Ukyo should be back in 4 and a half hours, taking into account the storm and the trek back up."

Chrome didn't know what else to say and Senku knew it, so he tried to lighten the mood, "At least we can still get the calcite."

Chrome didn't respond, just kept his head between his knees. He hates this. His friend is suffering and there's nothing he can do to help.

Senku huffed and punched Chrome in the arm, making him look up at him and rub it. "Hey, what was that for?"

"Gen always said to bring friends out of their thoughts," he said simply, "you looked like you were doubting yourself, so stop it."

"There's nothing I can do," Chrome buried his face in his knees again, "Magma's hurt. Ukyo's out in the freezing storm. While I'm sitting here doing nothing!"

"There's nothing either of us can do now except wait. There's no way out except from where we came." 

"I just... I feel useless."

"Hey, science isn't easy. Most of the time it blows up in your face billions of times before you can get it to work. That's the fun of it. Trial and error," Senku explained, "we encountered an error, so we're stuck here. I take full responsibility for it. That's what lead scientists do."

Chrome peeked out and looked up at the now smiling scientist.

"You're my favorite assistant, you know."

That made Chrome smile and bounce back. "Really?"

Senku nodded before he was tackled to the ground in a hug. Sitting up, he held a now sobbing Chrome in his arms since he attached himself to Senku's chest.

"Hey, hey! Quit your crying," Senku tried to shake him off, but he wouldn't budge. He needed this. Senku realized that and stopped struggling, rubbing his back as he buried himself deeper into his chest. 

A minute goes by and Chrome's sobs slowly start turning into sniffles. He finally pulls away and wipes his face with his sleeves.

"Sorry, Senku," Chrome apologizes, sniffles slowly dying down, but now shivering.

"It's fine," Senku scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He then notices the temperature dropping, accompanied by the wind outside calming down into a cold stillness. The storm died down, but now the air has a chance to settle above the cold snow.

"It's getting colder, Senku," Chrome shook, "at this rate, we'll catch hyperthermia or get frostbite."

Senku let out a grumble as he bowed his head in deep thought. Suddenly a spark filled his eyes! He grabbed his and Chrome's backpack and did his best to dry the snow off of them. Pulling a few clumps of fur off his own coat, he piled it on top of the bags.

After removing everything in them, he grabbed some sticks in his pouches on his belt and found some string in one of the bags. He tied the sticks together and made a makeshift firestarter. Chrome realizes what he's doing and pulls out a small piece of flint from his back pocket and Senku situated the sticks between them as the scientist vigorously sawed at the sticks using the string and, after a few minutes, Chrome's eyes shined at the tiny sparks it produced, catching the fur on fire and soon the backpacks as well.

The heat was intense, but the scientist knows it won't last long. Chrome noticed him glance wearily in Magma's direction, seeing the guilt swell up in Senku's chest, knowing he can't do anything to help his teammate.

Chrome scooted closer - wrapping his arms around the other scientist and pulling him closer to his own chest. Senku's ears heated as his cheeks grew a bright red, though he tried to shake it off with a smug, "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"Keeping warm?" Chrome smiled, though they both knew it wasn't a question, "It's the least I can do for our leader!"

Senku thought it was impossible for his face to turn any redder, but surprises happen all the time. Chrome closed his eyes and just listened to the man next to him. He can also hear the faint breathing of the man on the other side of the barricade, which puts his mind at ease.

The comfort and calmness that washes over Senku made him grow drowsy, to which he immediately shook off. Sleeping is 10 billion percent dangerous here. He needs to stay focused - trying to listen for anyone outside the cave, but Senku's mind always seems to turn back towards the idiot holding him.

"Senku," Chrome breaking the silence, "what was the other places in the world like?"

Senku paused, as if to analyze his simple question, "Where's this coming from?"

"I dunno. 's just that you been to a lot of places before the petrification. I just wonder what the places are like outside of Japan and America."

The scientist hums, remembering his previous adventures around the globe, meeting so many different people and learning all sorts of things that can't be experienced in a book. His many trips to America. Going to Africa to study the Ebola virus. Australia, Brazil, Hawaii, Antarctica... The list goes on. Though he's young, with his father's money, he could go anywhere.

He finally comes back to reality enough to answer Chrome's question.

"How about I just show you sometime, instead?"

A beat of silence hits before he could hear Chrome chucking. "That's just something you would say!"

"Well, is that a yes, or..?"

"Of course, I'd love to travel with you!" Chrome hugged him enthusiastically, "I'd go anywhere with you."

Pride starts to swell in his chest as he hugged back with a smile he was sure to hide.

"Yeah," he chuckled and well, "just us two. Maybe Stanley would be kind enough to let us borrow their plane."

Chrome giggled at the thought, "I doubt he'll let you take _another_ plane."

Senku only nodded while smirking. The silence between them feeling more pleasant than awkward and tense, much to their relief. It would be almost peaceful if they were in this situation somewhere else.

The flames started flickering, nearing the end of the fuel, making Senku tear off more of the fur to keep the fire alive. Chrome did the same with the fabrics of his own coat. A shiver ran through both of their spines.

"Don't take too much off," Senku warned while snuggling closer to conserve body heat, "we still have to walk back."

"You think the others will bring extra clothes?"

Senku hummed, "Yeah, Ukyo will make sure, though meat-head over there is our main concern."

Chrome grimaced thinking of how badly he could be hurt, but the sinking feeling of not being able to help reared its ugly head in the pit of his stomach. He tried his best to shrug it off, knowing it's illogical to have those thoughts in such a dire time. They're getting him help, but they just need to be patient.

A beat past between them, throwing more pieces of clothing into the fire while sitting even closer. If they moved any closer to each other, they'd be combined as one. Both were shivering at this point.

"Senku?" Chrome mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Do you ever get lonely as a scientist?"

He thought for a moment before chuckling, "Truthfully, sometimes. Though all humans do to an extent."

Chrome hummed at his answer, eyes lidded.

Senku abruptly shook him, making him flinch.

"Hey, you can't go to sleep here," Senku made him look at him, "you gotta stay awake for me, okay?"

Chrome shook his head and smacked himself on the cheeks, leaving two red handprints behind. He can't fall asleep. Not this close to being rescued! 

"They should be here any time now," Senku calculated in his head, "judging by the hurry and the snow storm dying down, they should be here quicker than I originally predicted."

"Wait, really!?" Chrome yelled in his ears, prompting Senku to quickly cover his mouth.

"You idiot!" Senku chastised, "You'll cause another cave-in with that loud of a voice!"

Chrome's eyes grew wide at the realization and put his hands over the ones Senku still had on his mouth. Senku let go, seeing as he got the picture, and sighed.

A couple beats have past between them until Chrome decided to break the silence, "You know... You're a great leader."

Senku's cheeks grew red as he looked away from the boy, "You know, a man who praises another man is either attracted to them, or they want something."

Chrome tilted his head to the side as Senku continued.

"I know you and you don't 'want' anything I know of. So it must be--"

Chrome beat him to it, closing the only gap between them. Their cold lips melting into each other's while time seems to stop around them. Chrome broke the kiss too soon for Senku's liking; him going in for another, only to be pulled back to reality.

Footsteps echoed in the cave outside and they both stood up simultaneously. They went over to the baracade until they started hearing their voices.

"They're this way," Ukyo led them, "watch your step, the snow is slippery."

"Senku? Chrome?" his voice rang through the cave, but quiet enough to not cause a disturbance in the structure.

"We're alright," Senku called back, "focus on stabilizing Magma before getting us out."

"Nonsense," Tsukasa's voice can be heard from the other side, "I'm getting you two out now, so stand back."

They both walked backwards towards the cave wall and the rocks started rumbling with force. The rocks and snow of the blockage started crumbling at each spear drill Tsukasa and Hyoga make until there's a wide enough gap for them to crawl out of. 

When they finally got out, Fransicos was already tending to Magma while Senku was being crushed to death by Taiju's teary hug.

They strapped Magma onto the sled they brought with a pile of blankets and a few extra costs for Senku and Chrome to wear for the journey back.

They all started to head back... Right after Senku and Chrome grabbed all the calcite they could carry into Magma's bag. No way they were leaving without what they came here for - even if it was less than expected.

______________

All of them managed to make it back in one piece, for the most part. The entire village was waiting for them with plenty of warm food and drinks, which they all were grateful for. After getting many hugs from friends, Fransicos came out of her and Ryuusui's house and announced Magma will make a full recovery, though he was close to be severely frostbitten. Though after some treatment, he should pull through without any need for amputation.

Other than that, things seemed to go back to normal..... Except for Chrome's frequent visits to Senku in the observatory at night - which everyone with eyes can notice.


End file.
